Dr Adriana Marais believes that we are living at a unique point in the history of life on Earth. Developments in science and technology are taking place at an unprecedented rate, and the expansion of our society beyond this planet is within reach. In her presentation she talks about her research in quantum biology and the origins of life, the technology required to sustain terrestrial life on Mars and the various projects aiming to send crewed missions there. She describes how the establishment, and potential discovery of evidence of, life on Mars, would be one of the most profound possible contributions of science to humanity.

Africa remains one of the greatest potential markets for air transport on the globe and this year’s annual Aviation Africa summit and exhibition will explore even further afield with the show organisers promising speakers that are both down to earth and out of this world. The event takes place in Kigali, Rwanda (27-28 Feb 2019). Stepping into the unknown will be key to the presentation by Dr Marais – a quantum biologist, a theoretical physicist, the director of the South Africa Space Foundation and head of innovation for SAP Africa.

We’re bringing information and devices online at an unprecedented rate, raising one of the fundamental questions of our time: how do we represent ourselves in this digital world that we are creating? And more importantly, how do we secure our identity in a digital world? We’ve heard about blockchain for currencies and smart contracts, a compelling and crucial application is in securing online identity.

Over the past few hundred thousand years, a new species has emerged – one that is rapidly and inexhaustibly producing huge volumes of data of their own: humans, says Adriana Marais, head of innovation at SAP Africa.

Credit: Originally published by the Huffington Post. I find myself living at a very particular point in the almost 4 billion years of the evolution of life on this planet. I feel extraordinarily lucky to be alive right now, when for the very first time, we are able to...

Credit: Originally published by the Mail & Guardian. In the beginning, during the first billion years (Gyr) of the Earth’s 4.5Gyr life, space debris bombarded the planet. High-energy collisions with meteorites up to 500km in diameter frequently disintegrated newly...

Credit: Originally published by the Mail & Guardian. A scientific response to the big question—“What is life?”—may remain elusive for some time, but research in the quickly emerging area of “quantum biology” offers intriguing possibilities. As the name suggests,...